Lithuanian PM expects LNG terminal to be completed on schedule

BNS

Thursday, September 4, 2014

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Lithuanian PM expects LNG terminal to be completed on schedule

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Lithuanian Prime Minister Algirdas Butkevičius expects that the Klaipėda liquefied natural gas (LNG) terminal project will be completed on schedule and will ensure the country's energy security, saying that builders are working on the construction site 24 hours a day.

"There is still some anxiety because this is the first such facility being built in Europe. The time frame is tight. Work is going on 24 hours a day, and we hope that it will be put into operation as scheduled and that this will ensure energy security," he said on the Žinių Radijas radio broadcast on Thursday when commenting on a German study that places Lithuania among the most energy safe countries in Europe.

The Vz.lt news website has reported, citing the Brussels-based online newspaper EUobserver, that the study conducted by the Institute of Energy Economics at the University of Cologne found that Lithuania would be safe if Russia cut off gas exports because it is building a LNG terminal.

According to the study, Finland would be the most vulnerable to a Russian gas cut-off because it imports 100 percent of its gas from Russia and has no storage capacities. If Russia cut off exports for nine months, gas supplies in Germany, Italy and France would be severely affected and Europe would face a total gas shortage of 46 billion cubic meters. However, Russia would lose around 4.5 billion euros of revenues monthly.